1. Field of the Invention
The present invention specifically relates to a SOFT HAND RESTRAINT DEVICE FOR TRANSPORTING PRISONERS utilized to transport a prisoner in the custody of law enforcement authorities between various locations, as may be dictated by the individual circumstances. The soft hand restraint device for transporting prisoners provides a measure of safety for both the law enforcement personnel entrusted with the transport of the prisoner and the prisoner being transported. Law enforcement personnel are placed at reduced risk of attack and injury from the prisoner as the prisoner's hands are not available to use in a similar fashion as if handcuffs had been employed. The prisoner derives the benefit of having an increased obstacle in respect to impulsive episodes, which could result in the use of more severe means of physical restraint by law enforcement personnel. Further, the incidence of excess force to subdue an unruly prisoner during transport may be minimized, as the prisoner poses less dexterity to support a confrontation.
2. Description of the Related Art
An effective means for safely transporting prisoners has long been felt in the law enforcement community. The use of traditional handcuffs and plastic cuffs, wherein the prisoner's hands are afforded limited freedom of movement has lead to the loss of life of law enforcement personnel and prisoners due to altercations that ensued. In many instances the prisoner was able to grab the weapon of the law enforcement officer, wherein it was employed to assault the officer. There have also been instances wherein the wrist chains of shackles or handcuffs have been employed to choke the law enforcement officer charged with transporting the prisoner.
There have been numerous attempts made to overcome these issues as can be demonstrated by such inventions as U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,631, Safe Cross Cuffs to Wilhelmy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,086, Hand Restraint Device to Albanese, U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,096 Supplemental Hand Restraint Device to Rivadeneyra, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,641 Hand Restraint for Handcuffs by Upton. However, each of these examples still present various limitations that although reducing the threat level to law enforcement personnel charged with transporting prisoners, fail to eliminate the risk. In the case of Wilhelmy, the hands of the prisoner are exposed and are still free to grasp objects and personnel within the prisoners reach. Further, the principle means of incapacitating the prisoner is by extended wrist cuffs having a rigid insert wherein the cuffs are joined by a screwed connection, which maintains the geometry of the cross cuffs, and also presents a weapon for the prisoners use. In the event that the prisoner is able to overcome the transporting officer, the prisoner may use the cross cuffs to his advantage to choke the officer or crush his [officer's] extremities, as a function of the leverage provided by the cross cuffs. In regard to Albanese, the arrangement of the hand cuff about metal rings that enclose the wrists poses a similar risk as in Wilhelmy, except that the prisoner is provided a greater range of motion and can undertake a greater range of motion of an extremity upon which to perform an offensive act. It is also obvious that Albanese although countering the ability to utilize the hands individually to grasp, has outfitted the prisoner with a striking tool that may be employed with the hands in unison to chop, slap or punch with. Both Upton and Rivadeneyra present bags that may be disposed over a set of hand cuffs to prevent the prisoner from exercising his ability to grip, however both rely on the positioning of the bag by a strap or snap ring arrangement the passes over the hand cuff linkage. Given the bulk of the bag in contrast to the flexibility of the human hand and the prisoner's desire to free himself, the potential for freeing one or both hands is not improbable. Further the ability of the prisoner to grasp items is only limited by the denier of the fabric as the aspect of the mutual cooperation of the prisoner's hands is left unmitigated. The disadvantages posed by these attempts firmly evidence the need for a solution that will prevent a prisoner from using his hands in an offensive manner during transportation by law enforcement personnel. Further, although all of the aforementioned attempts at redressing the issue of restricting the prisoner from exercising the ability to utilize his hands in a manner that manifests an offensive posture provide a limited degree of success. These means fail to completely eliminate the threat. It would be most desirable to have a means at the beckon disposal of law enforcement personnel that would provide for the humane detention and transportation of prisoners wherein the prisoner's ability to utilize his hands in an offensive manner is negated.
Given the multitude of shortcomings and disadvantages regarding the existing approaches to securing prisoners' hands to ensure safety to all parties during their [prisoner's] transportation it would be desirable to have an affordable and convenient solution within the domain of the law enforcement community that is capable of securing the prisoner and reducing the threat to law enforcement personnel while equally minimizing the subjective elements of use and reduces aspects for a chance of escape. The present invention satisfies such a need.